


Proposal

by eliniel



Series: Misc Emet-Selch/WoL [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Amaurotine Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Starlight Celebration (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21862513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliniel/pseuds/eliniel
Summary: Persephone surprises Hades by coming home early from her Convocation duties to spend the Starlight Celebration with him, but finds herself surprised instead.
Relationships: Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Series: Misc Emet-Selch/WoL [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1423444
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aoirohi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoirohi/gifts).



> Hey everyone! This is a gift for the lovely Aoirohi, involving her Amaurotine!WoL, "Seph!" I do hope you enjoy it :) It was so much fun to write. Happy Holidays everyone!

When I opened the door to our apartment, I was greeted with an unusual silence. 

Often when I would come home after my time travelling to other cities, I would find Hades on the floor in our living area, blueprints for a myriad of concepts spread out around him, a charcoal drawing pencil between his teeth as he approved, denied, or made logical changes to the things submitted to him, muttering garbled words to himself as he worked. 

But today, he wasn’t there.

“Hades?” I called. I set my bag on the table in the kitchen as I passed, then heard a  _ crash _ in the back of the apartment. Brow furrowing, I made my way towards the noise. “Is everything okay back there?”

“Seph?” he asked me as I poked my head into the bedroom. “Is that you?” I raised my brow when he stepped out of the closet. I took in his appearance, the tie in his long, white hair loosened, his red mask askew. Boxes of paperwork and small knick knacks we’d kept stored in there were strewn around the floor at his feet. I crossed my arms over my chest and chuckled.

“Who else would it be?” I shot at him, amusement in my voice. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, a hint of nervousness in his tone. “Perfectly fine, just searching for something.” He stepped over clutter to join me, then, wrapped one arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my temple.

“What is it? I could probably hel-”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll just look for it later.” I frowned as he began heading for the front room again, pulling me along with him.

“Well, aren’t you going to at least clean that up?” I asked, tilting my head back to look at the mess. He huffed a laugh and snapped his fingers. 

“There, all better.” I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes as a smile spread across my mouth, letting him lead me out of the room. “I heard you come in,” he began to explain. “But I thought you were Hythlodaeus.”

“Oh? Getting yourselves into trouble again?”

“Us? Trouble?” he asked, releasing me and putting his hands over his heart with a histrionic gasp. “The little faith you have in us pains me, my love.”

A short laugh escaped me. 

“Please. You act as if I don’t know you at all.” The front door opened again and Hythlodaeus stepped inside, immediately shouting.

“Hades are you-” His gaze fell on him as we approached, his face breaking out into a wide grin when he realized I was home, too. “Seph! You’re home!” 

I smiled as he sauntered over to me, throwing his arm across my shoulders. My arm immediately went around his back, as always, as he squeezed me tightly.

“Just in time for lunch,” Hades said as he fixed the tie in his hair, then reached for his long over-cloak that hung from a hook by the door. “Ready?”

When we got outside, he squinted in the brightness of the day, shielding his eyes with his hands as he took in his wide surroundings. “When did it snow?

“How long have you been holed up in the apartment this time?” I asked him, then turned to Daeus for the more accurate answer I knew he would provide me with.

“Not that lo-”

“Two weeks.”

“Hades!” I whirled back to him. “Just because I’m travelling doesn’t mean you can neglect to take care of yourself!”

He laughed, scratching at the back of his neck through his hood. “I guess I just lost track of the time. It’s not as if I stopped eating  _ entirely _ .” I clicked my tongue and shook my head.

“You always get too wrapped up in your work.”

“As the Architect-”

“I have a responsibility to the people of Amaurot-,” Daeus and I recited, mocking his serious tone of voice before we paused and looked at each other in momentary surprise. Both of us burst into a fit of laughter and Hades rolled his eyes.

“Really, you two-”

“I know, I know,” I said, playfully shoving his shoulder as I interrupted him. “You don’t know what you’d do without us.”

With an exasperated sigh, he twined his fingers between mine before pulling me down the sidewalk. “Let’s go or we’ll be late. You have no idea how hard it was to get reservations the day before the holiday, even for  _ me _ .”

The grin on his face didn’t escape me.

When we got to the newly opened cafe, Hades apologized profusely for having to add a third seat to the reservation, though the hostess smiled, saying it was not a problem, that they were “honored to just have  _ the Architect _ visit their  _ humble establishment _ .”

I exchanged an amused glance with Hythlodaeus as she gushed, obviously missing the fact that I was as Convocation member in my own right, though my seat was nowhere near as popular or powerful as his. Hades, embarrassed by the public attention, cleared his throat and nodded along with her words, a pained smile on his face as she praised him and his work.

“Oh, I am  _ so _ sorry,” the girl said, finally. “You’re here to eat, aren’t you?” She chuckled and led us to a table.

“We didn’t think you’d be back yet,” Daeus informed me as we ate. “Hades was in such a mood that you wouldn’t be home for the holiday, so I suggested we go to lunch, at the very least.” I hummed, a small smile appearing on my lips as I reached out to him, wrapping my hand around his and squeezing lightly. Our friend sat back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of him. “I offered to keep him company tomorrow, as well, but that was an emphatic  _ no _ from our beloved Architect. Probably planned to throw himself into more work while he sulked.”

I raised a brow and looked at him.

“Now that’s not-”

“Oh please,” Hythlodaeus interrupted. “Don’t deny what is the truth, my friend. What else would you have done? Sit on the couch and stare out the window?”

“Would you let me just-”

“Well, it’s a good thing I got back in time, then,” I said matter-of-factly with a nod. Hades relaxed next to me, releasing a breath of a laugh at our teasing. 

“I’m glad you did,” he said quietly as he turned his hand over, wrapping his fingers around mine. “Last I heard, matters probably wouldn’t be resolved beforehand.”

“Mm,” I hummed, running my thumb along the back of his hand. “I think those I was meeting with were anxious to get it all wrapped up so we wouldn’t be working on the celebration.”

A sound of disgust from across the table pulled my attention and we both looked to Daeus, one of my brows raised as he continued sitting with his arms crossed, cringing as he took us in.

“The two of you are so  _ sweet _ it’s actually sickening to watch sometimes.”

I burst into a fit of soft laughter and shook my head. 

“You should just get-Ow!”

The table shook, suddenly, our plates and glasses rattling with the movement, and I could only assume Hades had kicked our friend over whatever it was he was about to say. I sat back in my chair to give him a look, but his gaze was intently fixed on Daeus, eyes narrowed. I opened my mouth to question him, but our waitress arrived to clear the table, asking us how our meal had been, and my question was forgotten for the time being.

As we were heading back to our apartment, Hades came up next to me, sliding his hand into mine. I smiled, softly and leaned into him as we walked. He released my hand and wrapped his arm around me.

“I missed you,” I said, quietly, laying my head against his shoulder. He hummed in response and rubbed my arm up and down. I lifted my head with a quirked eyebrow and peered up at him, my grin turned playful. “Didn’t you miss me too?”

He breathed a chuckle and looked at the ground with a nod. “Of course I did, my love.” I tilted my head in confusion, my brow furrowing slightly.

“Is everything okay?” Immediately, he brightened and leaned in to press a soft kiss to my temple.

“Yes, I’m-”

Immediately, he stumbled to the side, his hand tightening around my shoulder, pulling me with him. 

“What-?”

“Did you forget I was still here?” Daeus’ voice called from behind us. Hades had balanced us both and he reached behind his head. When he pulled his hand away, it was wet with snow. He frowned and whipped around to find our friend with another snowball in his, poised to throw it.

“Hythlodaeus, don’t you-”

When the snowball hit him square in the face, he froze in shock and I jumped to the side to avoid getting hit by any wayward chunks. As it melted against his skin, it started sliding down his face in pieces, revealing his mouth hanging open. 

I began laughing at his expression, hugging my stomach as the giggles took hold of me. 

As I wiped tears from the corners of my eyes, I watched Daeus bend down to gather another handful, pressing it into a tight ball, then looked up at me. 

“Oh, no you don’t!” I exclaimed, quickly forming my own snowball and shooting it at him with all of my strength. With a gasp, he moved to the side but it still hit his shoulder. He tossed his, but I was able to duck out of its path. Next to me, Hades clicked his tongue and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Aren’t the two of you a little too old to be still playing in the snow like this?”

“Oh please,” I said with a roll of my eyes. With a conspiratorial nod to Hythlodaeus, we both aimed our next projectiles toward the  _ Architect _ . “You know what they say, my darling- All work and no play…”

He rolled his eyes, but I saw the tug on his lips as he couldn’t help but smile, then uncrossed his arms and held them up in surrender, accepting his fate as we pummelled him with snow. 

A while later, we said our goodbyes to Daeus outside of our apartment building, wishing him a happy celebration. When I turned to head inside, I heard them whispering to each other.

“Did you bring it?” Hades asked.

“Of course, my friend.” 

I turned around to find Hades dropping something into the pocket of his wet robe. With a wave, Hythlodaeus started heading towards his own living area. I raised a brow, but Hades offered no explanation before leading me upstairs.

After we changed into dry robes, I went to the kitchen and poured milk into two mugs, heating it with a small amount of aether. I took a cannister of powdered chocolate, something Daeus and I had been working on and perfecting since this time  _ last _ year, and stirred it into the steaming liquid. 

Satisfied with the taste, I smiled and made my way back to the living area, where Hades was waiting on the couch. He accepted it gladly, and took a long drink.

“Mm,” he moaned, quietly. “That’s nice and warm.” I breathed a chuckle as he opened his arm to me and I took my seat, curling into his side.

“Are you going to tell me what Daeus gave you?”

An amused smile spread across his lips and he set his mug down on the arm of the couch, then removed his arm from around me. 

“You know,” he started, turning to face me. “You always manage to ruin things in precisely the best way.” 

“Oh, and how is that? What exactly have I ruined?”

He reached out to me, running a hand through my hair as he examined my face with awe. “I had planned this for when you returned, of course, but you came home before either of us were expecting.”

I searched his eyes for a moment and opened my mouth to respond, but he continued.

“You never cease to amaze me, Seph. Everything about you- how your mind works, the pout of your lips when you’re trying to figure out something particularly tricky…”

My smile faded into surprise and I felt my cheeks start heating up with his praises.

“The bright, clear sound of your laughter and how it makes even my darkest days fill with happiness...the way your hair seems to shine blue in the sunlight.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, then slid to his knees on the floor.

“I had Daeus...procure this for me. He brought it today so that I could hide it and have it here for when you returned.”

My breath caught as he opened it. Inside sat a small, simple, golden band that sparkled in the light coming from our main room window. 

“When you came home, I was looking for a place to hide it and you startled me.”

I felt my heart rate pick up as he held the box up. 

“Persephone,” he started again. “Would you spend eternity with me?”

I gasped, tears springing to my eyes as I covered my mouth with my hands. I tried to form words, but they seemed to escape me as I looked between him and the ring he was offering. After a few long moments of silence between us, he breathed a nervous laugh.

“Are you going to leave me hanging, my love?”

“Oh, Hades,” I whispered, finally, knowing if I spoke at a normal volume my voice would crack. Without warning, I threw my arms around his neck. With a gasp of his own, we both fell backwards, crashing into the rug.

His free arm went around my waist as we tipped and when we landed, we both laid on the floor laughing.

“I take it that that’s a yes?” he asked me, pulling me close. I plucked the box from his hand and slid the ring onto my finger, holding it up so both of us could examine it.

“Of course it is,” I said as I lowered my arm, laying it across his stomach, and turned into him to nuzzle my nose in the crook of his neck. “I love you, Hades.”

“I love you too, Seph.”


End file.
